Three important things will remain the same about Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger when it reopens in a new location this summer, owner Rich Magner said.

The burgers will still be prepared with beef that’s ground fresh daily, customers will get to customize their burgers and people will still order directly from the restaurant’s cooks.

“Coming to the new location, people will still feel like they’re coming to Blimpys,” Magner said.

“We will still have the same order style — where you order from the cook directly — and the same things on the menu,” he added.

Magner signed a lease Thursday for the former Eastern Flame restaurant space at 304 S. Ashley St., ending his eight-month search for real estate in the downtown Ann Arbor area. The new location is just south of West Liberty Street and the Fleetwood Diner.

Magner was forced to close the 61-year-old restaurant at 551 S. Division St. in August 2013 after U-M purchased the property to make way for a 600-bed graduate student dormitory. The former Blimpy Burger building has since been demolished.

Blimpy Burger hosted “Last Supper” events before the restaurant closed, at which people could purchase $100 tickets to have a final meal in the building. Magner also raised $20,396 from 472 contributors on crowdfunding website Indiegogo to help reopen Blimpy Burger.

“I want to stress just how much appreciation we have for all the support over this hard winter,” Magner said.

Magner was recently negotiating a lease for a different space near downtown Ann Arbor, but those plans fell through when the space became unavailable, he said.

Magner called Blimpy Burger a “destination” restaurant, and is hopeful U-M students, alumni, Ann Arbor residents and tourists will still visit the restaurant at its new location on South Ashley Street.

“It won’t be as convenient or as often, but (students will) find us. I know that the alumni will find us and it’s a good spot for the regular townie clientele,” he said.

Blimpy Burger’s menu will stay the same, and Magner said the pricing structure will be similar. The restaurant specializes in small, customizable burgers with a range of toppings, including the popular fried egg.

The restaurant has received national attention as one of the best burger joints in America via the Travel Channel, and it was featured on Man V. Food. Blimpy Burger also made MLive’s Michigan’s Best Burger Top 10 list.

Magner said he saved the tables and chairs from the original Blimpy Burger and those will be used at the new location. He said the decor will be slightly different and it will have an updated look.

The new restaurant will have two usable bathrooms, whereas the original location had an employee bathroom in the back that the public could use.

Magner said there will be a better system for customers waiting in line to order food, and there will be increased seating at the new restaurant since the space is slightly larger than the building on South Division Street.

“Before, the line (of customers) wound through the tables. The way this space is configured, there’s a ramp that makes it kind of natural for forming a line,” he said.

Magner said renovations will begin as soon as the construction plans are finalized. The goal is to open the restaurant in late June or mid-July.

Magner expects there will be a nice synergy between Fleetwood Diner and Blimpy Burger, both mainstays of the Ann Arbor restaurant scene. Magner said he will consider offering a late-night business, but isn’t planning on it when the restaurant first opens.

“I think we will bring something that works with the other businesses on that whole block of Ashley,” he said.

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at 734-623-2584, email her lizzyalfs@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.